Team Finland Needs Fulbright Alumni From the Executive Director Why are Finland's schools so successful? This question has prompted countless delegations of education professionals from around the world to visit Finland in recent years in search of the answer. Finland's reputation has spread in tandem with its repeated achievement of top positions in the OECD Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) as well as other international studies. It is not surprising that this past year more delegations of American education experts have also visited the Fulbright Center in Helsinki than ever before. There is a growing interest in developing more cooperation and exchanges between the United States and Finland both in education in general and teacher education in particular. To respond to the demand from both sides of the Atlantic, the Fulbright Center and the U.S. Department of State have decided to strengthen the Distinguished Fulbright Awards in Teaching Program in Finland. This will be done in partnership with the University of Jyväskylä, which is known for its strengths in teacher education and research, a strong emphasis on internationalization, and an excellent relationship with the Fulbright Center. The partnership aims to further develop the content of the program, increase interaction between the U.S. teachers and Finnish education specialists, support the creation of long-term cooperation, and increase outcomes with direct impact at the policy level. The newly enhanced program will be offered already during the next academic year, and we are very excited about the potential of this initiative. We have recently signed our first long-term cooperation agreement with an American university. The new cooperation with Vanderbilt University (p. 18) provides unique opportunities for Finnish undergraduate students to study in the United States at a top-level university. The first fully-funded Finnish grantee has already been selected for the upcoming academic year. The Fulbright Center’s partnership agreements have also expanded to include new opportunities for U.S. scholars, as the Center has signed a long-term cooperation agreement with the University of Tampere (p. 4). The new Fulbright-University of Tampere Scholar Award offers research and lecturing opportunities in any discipline represented at the University of Tampere (p. 8-9). Our invited columnist, Ambassador of Finland to the United States, Ritva Koukku-Ronde, emphasizes the importance of alumni (p. 2). Indeed, it is not possible to talk about Fulbright without talking about its alumni. This year the Finnish ASLAFulbright Alumni Association celebrates its 60th anniversary (p.20). It is one of the oldest Fulbright alumni associations in the world. However, its focus is firmly on the future, for in addition to its growing membership activities, the association has joined the Fulbright Center to support the development and funding of our exchanges. The alumni, both in Finland and the United States, play an immensely important role throughout all aspects of our Finnish-American Fulbright program.
Terhi Mölsä
Exchange programs in the fields of science and education offer people the opportunity to experience the culture and society of another country. The Fulbright Center in Finland does unique work in this respect. In addition to its academic merits the Fulbright program helps to create lasting networks and sustained cooperation in these fields. The Fulbright program has been an integral part of the relations between Finland and the United States already over 60 years. The success of the Finnish basic education system in the international PISA tests has created a strong interest in the United States. This interest we also see in the Fulbright Program. American policy makers and experts are now looking closely at this outstanding Finnish expertise area. Teachers and other specialists of education travel regularly from the United States to Finland to find out how our schools function.They visit different schools, talk to officials and sometimes even enjoy a free school meal with the students and teachers. In addition, school groups or groups of teachers, principals and teachers-unions visit the Embassy and Consulate Generals every week to learn what makes Finland so successful when it comes to education. Finnish Lessons: What Can the World Learn from Educational Change in Finland?, a recent book by Dr. Pasi Sahlberg, has been a hit in the United States and we have been handing out thousands of copies of it to share best practices and to start up an inspiring dialogue. The American interest has extended to our universities and higher education as well, and there is plenty of room for further development. Hopefully this interest will turn into an even stronger longterm research cooperation and student exchange programs.
Finland is known not only for its world-class education system, but also for its innovation, high technology and cultural achievements. To further promote long-term cooperation between Finland and the United States, we have recently launched the Team Finland USA partnership. The idea of this nationwide network is to promote Finland’s external economic relations and country brand, the internationalization of Finnish companies, as well as foreign investment in Finland. The Fulbright alumni in the U.S. are a very valuable group of experts who know Finland well. To enhance the Finnish-American relations it is very important to get the Fulbright alumni involved in the Team Finland activities. I am confident that there is a lot of potential interest and untapped energy when it comes to engaging the alumni in various fields of cooperation. I welcome you to contact the Embassy or the Finnish Consulate Generals in the United States with any ideas to further develop the alumni cooperation. I am confident that our two countries have a lot to learn from each other in the ways we want to enhance and deepen our relations further.
Ritva Koukku-Ronde Ambassador of Finland to the United States of America